Review of A Script For Aspiring Women Leaders
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Taylor Freeman
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Review of A Script For Aspiring Women Leaders
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Script For Aspiring Women Leaders" by Mark Villareal.]
Historically, business has been touted as strictly a “man’s world”; a place where ruthless logic is welcomed, and emotional intelligence viewed as a secondary talent. It’s time for women to put those antiquated beliefs behind them and galvanize their natural skills and abilities to excel to new heights in leadership roles. But how? A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success, by Mark Villareal and Crystal Ann Suniga, lays out a simple recipe for gaining success in the professional world. Readers meet up with the ambitious Ann and can follow along her journey of professional development, painting realistic picture of how each step is applicable in the real world. Each component of this process provides detailed commentary connecting the importance of these concepts to their adoption in a professional career. In addition to the development practices that could be adopted by women hungry for leadership opportunities, the author highlights the importance of employers noting the part that they play in fostering female leadership development and taking action to support this development.
Villareal pairs sage business advice with a real-life case study, allowing the reader to follow along with the process step-by-step and even envision potential outcomes resulting from adopting this process. An evaluation phase enters into the process throughout its duration allowing the reader to adapt their plans for leadership development to any new challenge or opportunity that is presented when implementing the plan. The tone of the book remains positive throughout and provides several different examples of additional resources for any woman to include in her professional development plan. Seeing suggestions to further one’s knowledge on the topic is helpful as the author encourages the reader to apply components of how a variety of successful leaders have achieved their success.
Although the tone was generally a positive and encouraging one, the author often traversed into the territory of patronization. When coaching female leaders, it is important not to come across as condescending, especially when the coach giving the advice is male. Unfortunately, Villareal fell short on his delivery of advice consistently throughout the book. All the positive aspects of women mentioned were conveyed in a way that implied that women do not know their own worth unless told so by outside sources. The advice, while useful, is redundant throughout the entirety of the novel often making the reader feel as though they have been reading the same information for hours. While it is useful to repeat information to ensure that the reader is understanding the lesson, the author takes it to the extreme. In addition to this, the book paints the picture that all women have unsupportive husbands that will not understand their desire for professional success. Not only is this a broad generalization to place upon husbands of ambitious women, it also expressly separates those with “non-traditional partnerships” from the process completely.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The novel did have some practical advice on how to galvanize one’s natural leadership skills as a woman and also provided an easy to follow process to facilitate mentorships and other aspects of professional development. However, the positive aspects of this book were overshadowed by my frustration with the condescending paternal tone of the novel, the dated interactions used as facilitation examples, the lack of inclusivity, and the grammatical errors scattered throughout the text.
I, personally, would not recommend this book. If one were to separate the steps of the process from the tone in which those steps are delivered, this book is geared toward female business professionals that are interested in furthering their leadership skills and climbing the corporate ladder.
******
A Script For Aspiring Women Leaders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Historically, business has been touted as strictly a “man’s world”; a place where ruthless logic is welcomed, and emotional intelligence viewed as a secondary talent. It’s time for women to put those antiquated beliefs behind them and galvanize their natural skills and abilities to excel to new heights in leadership roles. But how? A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success, by Mark Villareal and Crystal Ann Suniga, lays out a simple recipe for gaining success in the professional world. Readers meet up with the ambitious Ann and can follow along her journey of professional development, painting realistic picture of how each step is applicable in the real world. Each component of this process provides detailed commentary connecting the importance of these concepts to their adoption in a professional career. In addition to the development practices that could be adopted by women hungry for leadership opportunities, the author highlights the importance of employers noting the part that they play in fostering female leadership development and taking action to support this development.
Villareal pairs sage business advice with a real-life case study, allowing the reader to follow along with the process step-by-step and even envision potential outcomes resulting from adopting this process. An evaluation phase enters into the process throughout its duration allowing the reader to adapt their plans for leadership development to any new challenge or opportunity that is presented when implementing the plan. The tone of the book remains positive throughout and provides several different examples of additional resources for any woman to include in her professional development plan. Seeing suggestions to further one’s knowledge on the topic is helpful as the author encourages the reader to apply components of how a variety of successful leaders have achieved their success.
Although the tone was generally a positive and encouraging one, the author often traversed into the territory of patronization. When coaching female leaders, it is important not to come across as condescending, especially when the coach giving the advice is male. Unfortunately, Villareal fell short on his delivery of advice consistently throughout the book. All the positive aspects of women mentioned were conveyed in a way that implied that women do not know their own worth unless told so by outside sources. The advice, while useful, is redundant throughout the entirety of the novel often making the reader feel as though they have been reading the same information for hours. While it is useful to repeat information to ensure that the reader is understanding the lesson, the author takes it to the extreme. In addition to this, the book paints the picture that all women have unsupportive husbands that will not understand their desire for professional success. Not only is this a broad generalization to place upon husbands of ambitious women, it also expressly separates those with “non-traditional partnerships” from the process completely.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The novel did have some practical advice on how to galvanize one’s natural leadership skills as a woman and also provided an easy to follow process to facilitate mentorships and other aspects of professional development. However, the positive aspects of this book were overshadowed by my frustration with the condescending paternal tone of the novel, the dated interactions used as facilitation examples, the lack of inclusivity, and the grammatical errors scattered throughout the text.
I, personally, would not recommend this book. If one were to separate the steps of the process from the tone in which those steps are delivered, this book is geared toward female business professionals that are interested in furthering their leadership skills and climbing the corporate ladder.
******
A Script For Aspiring Women Leaders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas
